However, the railway official did not handle these matters personally, but instead handed them over to his subordinates. He then followed the middle-aged merchant and Chen Zhou to a quieter place to sit down.

“Your promise has been fulfilled, and now it’s my turn to fulfill mine,” the middle-aged vendor said slowly.

Chen Zhou nodded and said, "Let's make the number of magic coins in my token positive first. I don't want to be wiped out by the Burning Field."

As he spoke, Chen Zhou handed his token directly to the middle-aged merchant.

The middle-aged merchant nodded, took the token, and said strangely, "Strange, why are the liabilities even greater now?"

"Zeng Yushu's token had a negative value. After I absorbed the amount of magic coins from his token, my own became even more negative," Chen Zhou said helplessly.

"It seems that even after I left, that guy hasn't given up on the things in this Shanghai shop. Those two giant blades were probably just exchanged recently. No wonder he's so heavily in debt," the middle-aged merchant said slowly, his tone filled with helplessness.

"Could you tell me about your dealings with the Alliance of Ten-Level Powerhouses?" Chen Zhou asked slowly, then, noticing the slightly awkward atmosphere, quickly added with a smile, "After all, I'm a member of the Advancement Alliance now, aren't I?"

The middle-aged vendor was stunned for a moment, looked at Chen Zhou, and said, "This is a long story. About ten years ago, I came to this Burning Ground, which is the tenth level of the Demon Warrior level. When I first came in, I managed to get through it, until I met Zeng Yushu."

That old man you met was far more experienced than me back then. Not long after I came in, I discovered the loophole in the magic coins. I was already able to use my skills to double the magic coins, but I never told anyone, and no one noticed me, except for Zeng Yushu.

At that time, Zeng Yushu wasn't particularly strong, but he was very experienced and knew the ten levels like the back of his hand, so he did very well there, despite his lack of skill. I had been looking for someone who could protect me. In the end, I chose him.

Then I used my skills with magic coins to help him. At first, it was just small favors and benefits. We could only exchange for some very small items in the Magic City store. But in the end, as my skills became more and more mature, Zeng Yushu benefited the most. During that period, his strength increased dramatically.

Finally, we formed the Tenth-Level Strongest Alliance together. He told me, "After all these years, I finally see hope of entering the ninth level." The initial intention of the Tenth-Level Strongest Alliance was the same as that of this Advancement Alliance. We all hoped to move upwards and enter the ninth level.

But the closer we got to the end, the more I noticed he had changed. He was not only more enthusiastic about running the alliance of the ten strongmen, but he also had less and less desire to enter the ninth level. He hoped to use my magic coin skills to create a powerful alliance and eventually rule the entire tenth level, just like the unity of the ninth level, becoming a huge force on the whole level.

At that time, I knew. He was no longer the one I had chosen. So I took the opportunity to slip away from the Tenth-Level Strong Alliance. For several years, I lived in anonymity, hiding and barely surviving, until I met Tie Dao.

This young man reminded me of Zeng Yushu back then. But by then, I no longer trusted such people; I stubbornly believed that once the railway established its power, it would become like Zeng Yushu.

The middle-aged vendor slowly began to speak, and when he mentioned the railway, the railway immediately responded, "How could I possibly become that kind of person?"

The middle-aged vendor's words were not interrupted by the railway.

He continued, "Once, I unexpectedly discovered that this guy, Tie Dao, was actually a member of the Tenth-Level Strongest Alliance. He led his brothers to break away from the alliance because he was dissatisfied with the actions of Zeng Yushu, the leader of the Tenth-Level Strongest Alliance. That's when I changed my opinion of him."

After a series of events, I joined the Advanced Alliance, hoping to contribute to its development. The Advanced Alliance you see now isn't as weak as it appears; their equipment is no weaker than that of the Tenth-Level Strong Alliance! As a former high-ranking member of the Tenth-Level Strong Alliance, no one understands their strength better than me. Furthermore, I'm now much more skilled at doubling magic coins. For example, if you currently have a negative amount of magic coins, and I repay you after an afternoon, you'll be surprised to find that it has become a positive number.”

After the middle-aged vendor finished speaking, he immediately picked up the water glass next to him, took a sip of water, and looked at Chen Zhou.

Chen Zhou nodded silently and said, "In that case, my biggest wish now is to enter the ninth level as soon as possible."

"Don't you need me to help you prepare the equipment for that Shanghai store?" the middle-aged merchant asked in surprise, seemingly not quite understanding Chen Zhou's actions.

Everyone who learned about the middle-aged merchant's special skills would desperately want him to double their magic coins so they could freely enter the Magic City stores to make purchases and continuously improve their power. The middle-aged merchant had seen too many people like this, so much so that he found it hard to believe Chen Zhou's unusual behavior. He preferred to believe that Chen Zhou was just pretending not to care.

However, Chen Zhou hadn't seen the items in the Shanghai store yet, so he couldn't say whether he wanted them or not. Chen Zhou felt that he already had the Fire Transformation Technique from the Salted Fish Store and the black sword given to him by the middle-aged merchant, so he didn't lack anything. Besides, he really liked the combat armor he was wearing.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!